Fables TV Show, Ep 01: Legends in Exile
by darling-gypsum
Summary: SCRIPT for Fables TV Show pilot, adapted from the first volume of Fables "Legends in Exile". See my tumblr account darling-gypsum to find more media for this hypothetical series, including fancasting, music, and images, as well as a pdf download of the script.
1. Act 1

**Thanks for reading! (to download the pdf of this script in proper script format, follow the URL (no spaces): "goo . gl / 8jhRPO"**

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* * *

 **EXT. THE HOMELANDS**

ZOOMING IN ON A MOUNTAIN RANGE, WE FLY OVER CASTLES AND FORESTS AND ISLANDS.

KING COLE (V.O.)  
Once upon a time, we were a thousand disparate kingdoms, spread over a hundred worlds.

CAMERA ZOOMS TO EACH LOCATION:

 **INT. King Cole's Court**

A feast with mythological creatures. KING COLE - jolly and round, full of food and drink.

KING COLE (V.O.)  
We were kings and cobblers.

CUT TO:

 **INT. WORKSHOP**

Elderly GEPETTO is in the middle of carving a young face from a block of wood.

KING COLE (V.O.)  
Wizards and woodcarvers.

CUT TO:

 **EXT. WOODS**

The Big Bad Wolf stalks a RED RIDING HOOD from the underbrush.

KING COLE (V.O.)  
We had our sinners, our saints...

CUT TO:

 **EXT. BEANSTALK**

Young blonde man, JACK, is climbing up a beanstalk with a determined grin.

KING COLE (V.O.)  
...and our blatant social climbers.

CUT TO:

 **EXT. WOODS**

PRINCE CHARMING - tall, dark-haired, debonair - appears in a clearing, where a tall stone tower rises above him.

KING COLE (V.O.)  
And from the grandest lord to the lowliest peasant girl, we were, for the most part, strangers to one another.

 **EXT. OVER CONTINENTS**

THE CAMERA FLIES OVER CONTINENTS AND OCEANS. THERE ARE SO MANY COUNTRIES AND KINGDOMS IN THIS REALM. SLOWLY FADING TO BLACK.

KING COLE (V.O.)  
It took an invasion to unite us.

FADE TO BLACK

FADE TO:

 **EXT. NEVER NEVER LAND**

Pirates and mermaids at a lagoon on the beach. Dark skies grow in the distance, inching towards the beach.

 **EXT. SHADOWY FORTRESS**

CAMERA FLIES TOWARDS THE DARK CLOUDS AND HALTS AT A DARK FOREBODING FORTRESS. HEAT AND DARK MAGIC SEEM TO RIPPLE OFF IT.

Hints of images of a dark creature.

KING COLE (V.O.)  
Beyond the farthest shores of Never, a dark thing of infinite hunger grew in strength and ambition.

SMASH CUT TO:

 **EXT. RUINS OF A KINGDOM**

An army of orcs, trolls, and monsters in armor raze and destroy a village. Chain gains are whipped and driven across plains. Forests burn.

KING COLE (V.O.)  
One by one, our scattered kingdoms fell to The Adversary's unquenchable appetite. Our homelands burned. Too few of us survived.

CUT TO:

 **EXT. A KINGDOM UNDER SIEGE**

A castle burns in the distance, as a mob of people are fleeing and evacuating.

CINDERELLA - mid to late twenties, blonde and pretty - and the same PRINCE CHARMING are disguised in less ornate clothing, hoods, his arm over her shoulder as they travel in the crowd.

KING COLE (V.O.)  
Over years - over lifetimes - we hid and ran.

CUT TO:

 **INT. BESIEGED CASTLE**

BOY BLUE - a young man in a blue mask and cape - sneaks up behind an inhuman guard, and slits his throat.

KING COLE (V.O.)  
We lived as outlaws and phantoms.

CUT TO:

 **EXT. THE WOODS**

A group of humans and fairy-tale creatures flee in the woods, and find a portal. With a watchful eye on the dangerous lands around them, they step into the portal.

KING COLE (V.O.)  
We made our way here...

 **EXT. NEW AMSTERDAM**

THE CAMERA FLIES INTO THE PORTAL, AND APPEARS ON THE OTHER SIDE: WHERE THE CITY OF NEW YORK IS A SMALL TOWN BEING BUILT UP BY EUROPEAN COLONISTS.

KING COLE (V.O.)  
...to this dreary, mundane place: the one world the Adversary seemed to take no interest in.

CUT TO:

 **EXT. STREETS - NEW AMSTERDAM**

In a swirl of smoke like glamour magic, MR. TOAD - a three foot tall toad - and his son, a smaller toad, magically shape-shift into a small squat human shapes. MR. TOAD leads his son by the hand out into the crowded streets of New York.

CUT TO:

 **INT. TAVERN - NEW AMSTERDAM**

SOMEONE is sullenly drinking in a tavern, listening to a few drunkards telling stories.

CUT TO:

 **INT. COTTAGE - NEW AMSTERDAM**

At a fire, an old woman is telling a crowd of children a story, gesturing animatedly as the children watch in awe.

KING COLE (V.O.)  
The people here knew of us as merely legends, fictions, myths. But we Fables are of flesh and bone. Their belief in our tales allowed us to live on.

CUT TO:

 **EXT. BULLFINCH STREET - NEW YORK CITY - 18TH CENTURY**

New York-1700's

The camera travels through the dirty, loud streets of colonial New York City. Turning a corner, we see a crowd of people building and bustling in a small street neighborhood. A townhall-esque building is being erected.

KING COLE (V.O.)  
Years turned to centuries, and we learned to set aside old grudges, united by our common enemy.

CUT TO:

 **INT. AT A DESK**

A hand is signing a parchment document titled "Fabletown General Amnesty Accords" in a flourished hand as "Lord Mayor Cole".

KING COLE (V.O.)  
We forgave our many grievances and made covenant with one another.

FADE TO:

 **INT. BALLROOM**

What appears to be the Victorian era, a group of people in formal gowns and suits, ranging from nearly to very human-looking, are raising glasses in a quiet, somber toast. Outside, is Victorian-era New York.

KING COLE (V.O.)  
And now, predator and prey, prince and pauper, are all of a single community.

 **EXT. THE HOMELANDS - PRESENT DAY**

A shadowy castle. Orcs and demons work and toil around its craggy surface.

KING COLE  
Allied in our undying memory of the Homelands, and the unshakable determination that one day we will return, and free our lands of the hated one.

The Camera zooms away from the castle.

 **EXT. NEW YORK CITY - PRESENT DAY**

In a blur, the camera travels through aNOTHER portal, arriving hovering over the modern landscape of New York City.

CUT TO:

 **INTRO - SHOT FROM ABOVE**

An ancient leather-bound storybook is resting on an asphalt city street. The cover of the book reads:

 **"FABLES"**

A car roars as it drives over the book, and the cover is blown open. Pages flip furiously.

The sounds of traffic - horns blaring, engines revving, radios blaring, people shouting - can be heard at the book rests on a page that 'created by' credit.

Another car roars by, and the pages turn in the wind to another page:

"Based on the graphic novels by Bill Willingham"

Cut to Black

 **ACT I**

ON THE BLACK, A TITLE READS:

"Chapter One: Legends in Exile"

CUT TO:

 **EXT. PARK - NEW YORK CITY**

SUBTITLE: Present Day.

CINDY - aka Cinderella - is sipping an iced coffee on a park bench. Watching little boys and girls play pirates. She smirks as she watches them, pushing her sunglasses to the top of her head.

A STRANGER - nondescript man in a track suit - takes a seat beside her on the park bench, leaving a large high-end shopping bag on the floor beside their feet. They sit silently next to each other, watching the kids.

CINDY and the STRANGER hands subtly move near each other on the bench. Between hands, CINDY passes him a stack of cash wrapped in a plastic bag.

After a moment, the STRANGER stands up and leaves. CINDY slides the shopping bag closer, and reaches down inside. Shuffling around, she smirks at the bag's contents.

CINDY  
(almost turned on)  
Hello, beautiful.

CINDY tosses her coffee in the trash and drops her sunglasses back onto her face. Picking up the bag, she stands from the bench and casually leaves the park.

CUT TO:

 **INT. BRIAR ROSE'S PENTHOUSE**

BRIAR ROSE - aka Sleeping Beauty, early to mid thirties, redhead, fierce and gorgeous - lies delicately on a large decadent king sized bed.

Yawning awake, the no-longer sleeping beauty leisurely gets out of bed, and begins to wander across the expanse of her penthouse suite.

CUT TO:

 **INT. PITCH DARK CLOSET**

BRIAR ROSE flicks on the lights to her incomprehensibly large closet. Wall of shoes, rows full of thousands of dresses and outfits in fashions ranging from all over the last 100 years.

She smiles dreamily as she runs her tapered, impeccably manicured fingers along the edges of her hangers.

CUT TO:

 **INT. DEPUTY MAYOR'S OFFICE**

SNOW WHITE, her face not seen, is filling a pen with an ink well, her nails immaculately clean and trimmed, but simple.

She straightens the name block on her desk, which reads: "DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS"

CUT TO:

 **EXT. STREETS OF NEW YORK**

Dashing out of a taxi, we follow the young man, JACK - of Frost, Be Nimble, O'Lantern, and Beanstalk fame. He appears in his early 20s, with shaggy blond hair. He's clinging to a crumpled paper bag

JACK runs through the street, plowing through a pizza delivery boy without a word. He almost trips but keeps on moving as the delivery boy drops his boxes.

CUT TO:

 **INT. RESTAURANT**

MOLLY - a young pretty waitress - runs a credit card repeatedly through the cash register in front of her. It keeps beeping and rejecting the card.

Irritated, she flips the card over, staring at the signature.

PRINCE CHARMING is seated at a large table by himself, surrounded by plates of half-eaten food.

MOLLY marches over to him through the crowded diner, trying to mask her irritation with the apologetic smile that will hopefully get her tips.

MOLLY  
I'm sorry, Mister...  
(checks the card)  
…Jones, but it looks like your card's been rejected. Do you maybe have another one?

The handsome man casually pulls out a checkbook and pen and begins to write.

CHARMING  
Terribly sorry about that, let me just write you a check.

He quickly jots down on the checkbook.

MOLLY  
(flustered)  
Well, I can't really...

Ripping off the check, CHARMING hands it to her. She looks at it. He has signed the check in flourishing cursive:

"Prince Charming."

MOLLY  
(incredulous)  
Funny.

CHARMING flashes her the most disarmingly handsome and coy smile she has ever seen. It doesn't take much effort on his part to charm her.

CHARMING  
Has anyone told you what stunning eyes you have?

MOLLY'S demeanor warms, and she bites her lip with a smirk.

CUT TO:

 **INT. RESTAURANT - MOMENTS LATER**

CHARMING rests his hand on MOLLY'S lower back to usher her out the front door of the restaurant.

Another WAITRESS wanders to CHARMING'S table, lifting up a huge stack of ones and fives on the receipt. MOLLY'S apron is on the table. Scribbled in pen on the bill is written:

"Bill's on me. -Molly"

CUT TO:

 **EXT. BULLFINCH STREET**

A single block of New York City, Bullfinch Street bustles with people.

JACK, still running, bumps into CINDY on his way towards the large hotel at the center of the plaza. She clings her shopping bag, glaring at him with venom.

CINDY  
(yelling)  
Watch it, spaz!

 **EXT. THE WOODLANDS HOTEL**

The camera turns to the right, revealing a multistory hotel at one end of the square, the wall beside it reading "Woodland Luxury Apartments." The massive apartment building is the secret city hall of Fabletown.

Jack shoves through a revolving door and into the building's lobby.

 **INT. LOBBY - WOODLAND APARTMENTS**

JACK bounds into the lobby.

TRUSTY JOHN - a brick of a man in his late 40s to early 50s - seems surprised that JACK didn't take the door he was holding open.

TRUSTY JOHN  
Morning!

GRIMBLE - a large gruff looking man in a security uniform - snores at his desk.

Janitor AMBROSE FLYCATCHER - ambiguous age, lanky and shaggy, in orange workman's jumpsuit - is mopping the floor as JACK stumbles on the wet spots on his way to the elevator.

FLYCATCHER  
Woah ho, easy there, Jack!

CUT TO:

 **EXT. SNOW WHITE'S OFFICE**

We pan down a wood paneled hallway containing the doors to the offices of SNOW WHITE and Sheriff BIGBY WOLF.

Citizens of Fabletown are standing and crowded on a bench along the wall. Many look human and lower-middle class, others have an array of inhuman characteristics like horns, eyes in strange colors, and various others.

The doors read:

BUSINESS OFFICE, S. White

SHERIFF, B. WOLF.

CUT TO:

 **INT. STAIRWELL - WOODLAND APARTMENTS**

Jack scrambles up the stairwell, sweating and gasping for air. He grips the paper bag in a death grip. It seems to have a dark stain on the side and bottom of it.

 **INT. BIGBY'S OFFICE**

CLOSE UP OF BIGBY WOLF'S FACE, FOCUSING ON HIS NOSE. HE SNIFFS INVOLUNTARILY.

CUT TO:

 **INT. SNOW WHITE'S OFFICE**

The Deputy Mayor of Fabletown, SNOW WHITE, is exactly what you'd envision: a beautiful young woman appearing to be in her late twenties to early thirties, with porcelain skin and jet black hair. Her eyes, a vivid blue, are fierce but weary from her tedious appointments.

SNOW WHITE  
(across her desk at someone)  
I'm sorry if that isn't what you wanted to hear, but once again, the only problem that directly concerns this office is how... **beastly** you've been looking lately.

Across from the Deputy Mayor sit her latest appointment, LADY BEAUTY and LORD BEAST - a couple seemingly in their mid to late thirties. BEAUTY is a pretty blonde with a short fuse. She wears women's skirt suits in the vein of Jackie Kennedy, as if she is always vying for political office.

Her husband, LORD BEAST, is in the transitional stages of becoming a seven foot plus chimera of a creature. The hair on his head has grown out of control to line his face in fur, with the initial stubs of horns peaking out from his forehead. His suit is straining at the stitches over his hulking muscles.

BEAUTY  
Was that supposed to be funny?

SNOW WHITE  
Of course not. But do you know what else isn't?

Pulling a tabloid magazine out of a folder in front of her, she slides it across her table towards her guests. The cover page is covered in fuzzy pictures of a hairy, horned beast draped in clothing as it ducks into dark alleyways. The headline reads: MONSTERS IN NEW YORK CITY?

BEAUTY glances down at the tabloid, her irritation flaring up.

BEAUTY  
We didn't come here for a lecture, Miss White. We came here for help with my husband's condition.

SNOW WHITE  
No you didn't. You came here for a handout.

BEAST'S teeth are half-evolved into fangs, leaving him speaking for the entirety of this scene with a debilitating speech impediment.

BEAST  
(barely understandable)  
It's not my fault! My curse disappeared when my wife agreed to marry me way back when, but now it comes and goes.

BEAUTY  
See? I told you he blamed me.

BEAST  
(barely understandable)  
I'm not blaming you, darling, but I seem to turn back to a beast to the extent that you're mad at me.

SNOW WHITE  
This would be easier, Lord Beast, if I could understand you better.

BEAUTY  
(irritated)  
He said that his curse reasserts itself to extent that I become mad at him.

SNOW WHITE  
Thank you. And leading me back to my point. I cannot justify funding treatment for a preventable condition. Our budget is tight enough as it is.

BEAUTY  
(insulted)  
Preventable?

SNOW WHITE  
In my opinion, your efforts would be better spent towards finding some marriage counseling.

BEAUTY  
You can't expect someone to be married for a thousand years and be perfectly, blissfully happy every second.

BEAST  
(fingers fiddling with his teeth inside his mouth)  
It's this transitional period that's the problem. My fangs grow in before my mouth can get big enough to fit them. So I speak funny.

SNOW rubs at her temples in weariness.

SNOW WHITE  
The mundanes may look to their government to solve their problems, but in the fable community, we expect you to be able to run your own lives.

CUT TO:

 **INT. FABLETOWN OFFICE OF OPERATIONS**

JACK bounds into the hallway, and tears open the door that reads: "SECURITY OFFICE, B. WOLF"

Citizens who've been waiting patiently start making a fuss at Jack cutting the line.

 **INT. BIGBY'S OFFICE**

JACK slams the door behind him, leaning his back against the door. He sinks to the floor, his breath heaving furiously.

The office has a thin cloud of cigarette smoke in it.

JACK  
(coughing)  
Bigby! Bigby...you gotta help!

BIGBY WOLF - middle aged, dark-haired, gruff, and weary - keeps his eyes on a stack of paperwork on his desk as the young man struggles to breathe.

BIGBY  
Out, Jack. Back of the line.

JACK  
(eyes darting around)  
There's nobody in here.

BIGBY  
That's because I don't like people. You might be waiting for a while.

JACK  
Something's happened! Something... something terrible's happened!

BIGBY  
(deadpanned)  
Been climbing beanstalks again?

Jack shoots daggers at the sheriff with his glare, struggling to stand up.

JACK  
(out of breath)  
Blown down any houses lately?

MEDIUM SHOT FROM BEHIND JACK, UNDER HIS ARMS.

JACK pulls the paper bag out from under his jacket and drops it onto the desk.

CLOSE UP OF BIGBY'S NOSE AGAIN. HIS SNIFF IS A LOT STRONGER.

BACK TO MEDIUM SHOT

BIGBY stares weary-eyed at the bag from his seat.

The paper bag is seeping blood onto the desk.

CUT TO:

 **INT. SNOW WHITE'S OFFICE**

MEDIUM SHOT OF BOY BLUE'S DESK.

BOY BLUE, personal assistant to the Deputy Mayor - young man in his late teens to early twenties - is sitting at his desk in the business office. He has a quiet strength, his light blue eyes old and soulful under youthful sandy blonde hair. He is neck deep in large accounting and inventory tomes.

SNOW WHITE (O.S.)  
There are only a handful of government positions. We get by on donations, not taxes mind you, and half of our time is spent bowing, scraping, and kissing ass to get what we can manage to bring in each year. We can't afford to subsidize concealing magics or marital counseling, and to be perfectly honest, I wouldn't allow it if we could.

PULL OUT TO WIDE SHOT OF THE ROOM. SNOW'S VOICE ECHOES THROUGH THE ROOM.

We get a view of how absurdly large the Business Office is. It is palatial, far larger than the Woodlands building is on the outside. Peppered around the office is a museum of legendary memorabilia: Fairy-tale relics and statues (The sword in the stone, etc...), rows of bookshelves reaching up several stories and stretching out into the far off dark. A pirate galleon is in the distance.

BLUE'S desk is smaller, simpler than SNOW WHITE'S, and several yards behind her. He jots notes down in the ledger in front of him.

With a flap of wings, BUFKIN, a flying monkey, lands on the desk with a handful of books. BLUE smiles at him, and they exchange a few books with each other. BLUE opens one and glances through a few pages, nodding. BUFKIN takes off again, leaving the boy to continue with his work.

BLUE glances up, still writing as he listens to SNOW'S argument with BEAUTY and BEAST continue.

SNOW WHITE  
Lord Beast, if you can't maintain a human appearance or purchase a glamour from one of our witches, you will be relocated upstate to the Farm.

BEAUTY  
This is outrageous!

SNOW WHITE  
You are more than welcome to remain here in Fabletown, My Lady. Maybe a little time apart would do you some good.

BEAST  
(barely understandable)  
That's not fair! This isn't our fault!

SNOW WHITE  
You are in direct violation of your civic duty. Our most vital law, My Lord: "No Fable shall, by action or inaction, cause our magical nature to become known to the mundane world."

BEAUTY  
(nodding behind SNOW'S head)  
Don't give me that. What about him?

A MEDIUM SHOT OF SNOW WHITE AT HER DESK, CAMERA AIMED AT HER RIGHT SIDE.

THE CAMERA SHIFTS QUICKLY TO A DEEP FOCUS TO LOOK PAST SNOW'S FACE. BLUE AND BUFKIN SPEAK QUIETLY AT BLUE'S DESK.

BLUE and BUFKIN glance up at the attention. The flying monkey glares back and screeches.

SNOW WHITE  
Bufkin remains here as our archivist under the expressed orders of Mayor Cole. He's given his oath that he will never leave this office. I can't expect you would do the same.

BEAUTY  
We didn't escape from the Homelands with our fortune intact! We can't afford a glamour powerful enough to hide the curse; we barely make enough between us to make rent.

BEAST  
(barely understandable)  
And it's those same money troubles that exacerbates our marital problems and makes the curse come back.

SNOW WHITE  
Most of us lost our lands, titles, and fortunes when we fled the Adversary. We've all had to make do.

BEAUTY looks up at the office around them.

BEAUTY  
(deadpanned)  
I can see that.

SNOW WHITE  
(thinly)  
Mayor Cole's..ostentatious choice of decor aside, the Fable government is overworked and underpaid and we are doing everything in our power to keep the exile community together. So please believe me when I say that I can't help you sort out your problem.

BEAST  
(barely understandable)  
But you aren't really the Mayor.

BEAUTY is shocked that her husband has spoken up like that.

SNOW WHITE  
(prepared for the claim)  
If you want to go directly to the Mayor, that's your prerogative. But I'll tell you exactly what will happen. He'll listen to your problem and make all the right noises about how sorry he is for your plight - and his sympathy will be genuine because he's a wonderful, empathetic man.

SNOW WHITE's stone cold, confident gaze locks onto BEAST.

SNOW WHITE (CONT'D)  
And then the moment you're out the door, he'll ask me what I want to do about it.

SNOW WHITE slips the tabloid into a folder and closes it with finality.

SNOW WHITE (CONT'D)  
For better or worse, you've just had your appeal to city hall.

BEAUTY  
You have no idea how hard it is to keep a marriage going for so long.

BEAST  
(barely understandable)  
No reason to get personal, dearest.

BEAUTY  
She openly criticized our relationship!

SNOW WHITE  
I did no such thing.

BEAUTY  
And who are you to criticize anyone's personal life? After your tawdry little adventure with those dwarves.

SNOW WHITE narrows her eyes at BEAUTY.

BLUE peeks his head out to the side from his desk and peers around SNOW'S shoulder.

SMASH CUT TO:

 **EXT. SNOW WHITE'S OFFICE**

BLUE hurriedly ushers BEAUTY and BEAST out of the Deputy Mayor's office. The line of people in the hallway shuffle at the disturbance.

BLUE  
(loud and overly formal)  
Thank you both for coming, our door's always open. But we need to move things along to Ms. White's next appointment, so-

BEAUTY  
But we weren't finished!

BLUE leans his back into the door and slams it closed. He begins to busy himself getting their coats.

BLUE  
(in a sober, low voice)  
Take my advice, ma'am, some topics are best never brought up. Never discuss personal hygiene with a bridge troll. Never trade casserole recipes with a black forest witch. But above all, when talking to the Deputy Mayor...  
(shoves the coats at them)  
Never mention the dwarves.

BEAST extends the crook of his arm to his wife, who refuses it and storms out down the hallway. BEAST follows her out.

BIGBY exits his office from down the hallway. BLUE adopts his usual formal and overly friendly tone.

BLUE (CONT'D)  
Goodbye, Lady Beauty. Lord Beast. Take care, now.  
(turning to the crowd)  
Thank you all for your patience. We will call for the next appointment soon.

BIGBY steps towards SNOW'S office, smoking.

BIGBY  
Hey, Blue.

BLUE  
(with a sigh and a smile)  
Morning, Sheriff Bigby.

BIGBY  
Is her ex-Highness in?

BLUE  
Yes, but she's in a foul mood.

Beside SNOW'S door is a sign that reads:

"THANK YOU FOR NOT SMOKING"

Paying absolutely no attention to it, BIGBY takes a long drag of his cigarette before grabbing the doorknob handle.

BIGBY  
(opening her door)  
Great. I get to make it worse.

CUT TO:

 **INT. SNOW WHITE'S OFFICE**

BIGBY enters SNOW'S office.

BIGBY  
Morning, Snow.

She is standing at her desk, hovering over a stack of files in front of her.

SNOW WHITE  
I'm a little busy at the moment, Sheriff. What can I do for you?

BIGBY  
Can you sit? We need to talk.

SNOW WHITE  
About?

BIGBY  
Bad news.

She steps from her seat and passes him on her way to the file cabinet oddly close to her desk in the massive hall.

SNOW WHITE  
I'm well aware that Charming's back in town, thank you. Apparently he's even worn out his welcome with the inbred European royalty. He's already asked for an audience. Says he wants to 'talk business'.

BIGBY  
(deadpanned)  
Meaning he's out of money.

BIGBY flips through a file on her desk, lifting a page or two and peeking.

BIGBY (CONT'D)  
But it's not about your ex. When was the last time you spoke with your sister?

SNOW slides open an eye level file drawer, slightly irritated, but not looking up at him.

SNOW WHITE  
What's Rose done this time?

BIGBY  
Gone missing.

SNOW WHITE  
(distracted)  
How's that?

BIGBY  
I have it on unconfirmed authority that something might've happened to her.

SNOW WHITE  
(weary)  
Do you think you could be a little less opaque?

BIGBY  
Got a visit from Jack just now.

SNOW WHITE  
(scoffing laugh)  
I'm sure that was enlightening.

BIGBY  
Told me that he went over this morning and found her placed trashed.

SNOW WHITE  
(exhaling with relief)  
Is that it? From what I hear, Rose Red's apartment is "trashed" with alarming regularity.

BIGBY  
Must've been a hell of a party.

BIGBY plops a plastic evidence bag onto her desk. It has a T-shirt soaked in blood inside. The inside of the bag is flecked with blood as well.

As she looks up and sees the bag, SNOW'S expression grows dark.

SNOW WHITE  
Are you insane?! What is that?

BIGBY lifts a necklace from the pile, a golden chain with an ornate rose charm on the end.

BIGBY  
Recognize it?

SNOW WHITE  
(flustered)  
Yes. It's Rose's.

BIGBY  
Found at the scene.

SNOW WHITE  
What happened? Where is she?

BIGBY  
Not sure. I'm going over to her apartment now to check it out.

SNOW WHITE  
You haven't been there yet? I'm coming with you.

BIGBY  
I don't think that's such a good idea. Let me take a look around first...

SNOW WHITE  
She's my sister, and I'm your boss. I'm going.

BIGBY  
I told you as a courtesy, Snow.

SNOW continues to pack her things with little consideration to BIGBY.

SNOW WHITE  
How about a compromise? I go with you, or you can clean out your office and get the hell out of the building. Deal?

CUT TO:

 **INT. MOLLY'S APARTMENT**

MOLLY the waitress' apartment is a cramped studio, filled with cheap furniture and plenty of stuff. Exactly the kind of ratty place that a waitress would be able to afford in New York.

PRINCE CHARMING is having sex with MOLLY. Moans, giggles, and a characteristic thudding of a mattress against the wall fill the single room apartment.

MOLLY  
(in the throes of passion)  
Oh! Oh, wow. Yes! Just like that. Do more of that!

Sheets tangled around them, MOLLY wordlessly shouts as CHARMING continues thrusting into her, waiting for her to come back down from her orgasm.

He slows down, breathing heavily, pleased with himself. Still moving inside her.

MOLLY  
(entranced)  
Wow, that was-

CHARMING  
(grinning)  
Bracing.

MOLLY  
You're amazing.

CHARMING  
(leaning forward)  
I know.

CHARMING kisses her. Their faces stay close as they breathe together for a long minute, basking. Slowly, he starts thrusting into her again.

MOLLY  
(grinning)  
Again?

CHARMING  
I've always believed a truly accomplished nobleman should hone his cocksmanship every bit as much as his swordsmanship.

MOLLY squirms underneath him, chuckling.

CHARMING (CONT'D)  
In each case one should know when it's better to thrust or parry or bind. When it's time to withdraw or riposte.

MOLLY  
I don't know what riposte means, but don't you dare withdraw yet!

CHARMING starts to thrust harder.

CHARMING  
And of course, when it's time to finally commit all to the... deep...lunge.

MOLLY'S bare legs wrap around his middle as he starts kissing her neck.

MOLLY  
(breathless)  
My hero.

CUT TO:

 **INT. TAXI**

SNOW and BIGBY piled into a taxicab. The driver glares back at BIGBY as he puffs away on a cigarette. SNOW is clearly upset by the aroma of the smoke.

TAXI DRIVER  
Can't smoke that in here, buddy.

BIGBY hands him some extra bills and ignores the warning.

BIGBY  
I sent Jack on ahead to keep an eye on the apartment. He's waiting for us.

SNOW WHITE  
A little like letting the fox guard the hen house, don't you think?

BIGBY  
If he'd messed with the crime scene at all, he would have done it before came to me.

SNOW WHITE  
Jack's a scam artist. I don't understand what Rose sees in him.

BIGBY  
I always got the impression that your disapproval was what she found most attractive about him.

SNOW WHITE  
You're getting a bit nosy, Mister Wolf.

There's a moment of tense pause as SNOW taps her fingernails against the cab's seat.

SNOW WHITE  
Her sole goal in life seems to be mortifying me.  
(muttering)  
Can this goddamn cab go any faster?

CUT TO:

 **EXT. APARTMENT BUILDING**

They walk up the stairs and enter the apartment building.

CUT TO:

 **INT. APARTMENT BUILDING**

SNOW and BIGBY walk up the inside stairs and down a hallway.

JACK sits on the ground, quietly waiting for them, his eyes red and teary from crying.

He glances up and sees SNOW.

JACK  
Ms. White? What are you doing here?

SNOW WHITE  
(lifting a finger)  
Not. A word.

They walk up to the doorway. SNOW takes point, stepping to the door and grasping the doorknob.

SNOW WHITE  
(calling into the apartment)  
Rose?

BIGBY catches a whiff of something and reaches out for her hand.

BIGBY  
Snow, wait.

She slips away from his grasp and opens the door. She peers inside and one glance at the scene sends her reeling back into the hallway.

SNOW WHITE  
Oh my god.

BIGBY steps into the doorway and looks inside.

CUT TO:

 **INT. ROSE'S APARTMENT**

The apartment is trashed, furniture and broken glass all over. The walls, floors and personal items, are all splattered with blood.

BIGBY focuses on a message written on the wall above the flipped couch, cushions ripped apart.

In blood, splattered with streaks, reads the warning:

 **"NO MORE HAPPILY EVER AFTER"**

CUT TO BLACK

 **END OF ACT ONE**

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! (to download the pdf of this script in proper script format, follow the URL (no spaces): "goo . gl / 8jhRPO"**

 **Even if you download, please R &R!**


	2. Act 2

**ACT TWO**

 **INT. HALLWAY**

Covering her mouth, SNOW spins away from the front door, slamming her back up against the door frame. She's shaking.

SNOW  
Oh my god.

JACK  
(sad)  
I _told_ you _._

BIGBY  
Shut up.

BIGBY steps towards SNOW, blocking her view of the apartment.

BIGBY (CONT'D)  
Are you gonna be alright?

SNOW WHITE  
(her eyes shut)  
There's so much blood.

BIGBY gently holds her shoulders.

BIGBY  
Just breathe. We don't know  
anything yet. Let me take a look  
around.

BIGBY shrugs off his coat as he stares into the apartment.  
BIGBY (CONT'D)  
Hold these for me.

BIGBY hands her his lit cigarette and his coat. SNOW takes them without complaint, still processing. BIGBY shakes out his head and exhales quickly a few times, breathes out his nose harshly to clear the smoke out.

BIGBY  
(to JACK)  
Watch the door. No one comes in.  
Especially her.

JACK nods and closes the door behind BIGBY. SNOW is trembling, glaring at JACK when he turns around.

CUT TO:

 **INT. ROSE'S APARTMENT**

BIGBY stands motionless in the doorway for a beat.

CLOSE UP OF HIS NOSE. HE SNIFFS AGAIN.

CLOSE UP OF HIS HANDS. HIS FINGERS TWITCH AND CLENCH IN A FIST.

Silently, BIGBY steps around the puddles of blood in the room. CD's, food, appliances are strewn around the floor.

Almost every object in the apartment is splattered with blood.

He stares at the blood message smeared on the wall.

Crouching down, BIGBY lifts a knocked over lamp. Not shattered, but blood drips off it.

BIGBY kneels to study the rug. He sees an over-turned ashtray covered in blood. He takes a pen from his shirt pocket and lifts the ashtray up on its side. The floor is clean beneath the ash tray, a blood ring around it.

Against one of the walls, BIGBY finds a massive stereo system with a turntable and shelves of records. BIGBY kneels down and flips through the records. The stereo and the records are clean of blood.

BIGBY looks down at a shelf of CD's below the records. A handful of them have been torn off the shelf. He glances around and finds some of them crushed on the floor.

CUT TO:

 **INT. KITCHEN**

BIGBY walks into the kitchen, which doesn't have any blood in it. It's still a pigsty, though: junk food, take-out containers, beer cans and bottles everywhere.

He studies the fridge, and finds the freezer has a set of four holes drilled into the door and the side of the fridge.

BIGBY starts opening drawers, finding one filled with junk/hardware: screwdrivers, nails, spray paint, tape, etc.

Rifling through the drawer, BIGBY finds a hinge lock and padlock. The padlock is locked with a key still sticking in it.

BIGBY steps to the fridge with the lock and is able to line up the holes perfectly with the ones drilled into the freezer door and side.

BIGBY growls lightly under his breath, unsure what to make of the discovery.

CUT TO:

 **INT. HALLWAY**

SNOW corners JACK in the hallway.

SNOW WHITE  
(angry)  
How could you not know what happened?

JACK  
I was out all night with friends.  
When I got back, Rose was gone and  
the place was destroyed. Blood on  
everything.

SNOW drops BIGBY'S cigarette and coat. She steps forward and shoves JACK back into the wall.

SNOW WHITE  
If you laid so much as a _hand_ on her-

JACK  
I didn't! I swear!

BIGBY ambles out of the apartment, hands shoved in his pockets. They both look at him, and JACK manages to pull away from SNOW while she is distracted.

JACK  
Well?

BIGBY casually squats down to grab the cigarette off the ground. Blowing on it gently, he puts it back into his mouth.

BIGBY  
I have a few tests to run.

SNOW WHITE  
Tests? Doesn't your nose work anymore?

BIGBY  
It's all Rose's blood.

SNOW shuts up at that, her breath catching at the thought of her sister's grisly demise. She looks back to the room.

BIGBY (CONT'D)  
There's no body. I'm not jumping  
to any conclusions yet.  
SNOW turns to JACK with venom, steps towards him.

SNOW WHITE  
(seething)  
If she's dead, Jack, so help me,  
I will throw you down the Witching  
Well as you kick and scream.

JACK  
I didn't do anything, Jesus!

BIGBY stands and holds SNOW back by the shoulder, gesturing her to stand aside.

BIGBY  
Jack, do you have a key to the  
apartment?

JACK  
(searching his pockets)  
Uh, yeah, here.

BIGBY takes the key from JACK, and locks the doorknob and deadbolt. He takes JACK by the arm.

BIGBY  
Alright, let's go. I'm taking you in.

JACK  
For what?

BIGBY  
(shrugging)

I hadn't thought about it...Let's  
just say 'resisting arrest'.

BIGBY pulls out a pair of handcuffs from his belt.

JACK  
You're fucking crazy!

SNOW WHITE  
(cautiously)  
What did he do to Rose?

BIGBY  
I'll get back to you.

JACK  
I didn't do anything. I wouldn't  
hurt her! I love her!

JACK shoves BIGBY away. BIGBY snatches JACK'S wrist and slams him into the wall face first.

JACK (CONT'D)  
Get off me, you power-mad fuckshit!

BIGBY  
(to SNOW, with feigned shocked)  
Did you see that swing he just took  
at me?  
(puts cuffs on JACK)  
Better add 'assault' to the charges.

BIGBY hauls JACK from the wall and leads him towards the stairs. SNOW follows somberly.

CUT TO:

 **EXT. NEW YORK CITY**

The city is busy as it fades into night.

CUT TO:

 **INT. BRANSTOCK TAVERN**

CLOSE UPS OF DRINKS, CIGARETTES, HANDS, AND THE BARTENDER SERVING DRAFT BEERS.

The tavern is dark, moody, but comfortable. All hard wood and tight quarters, the place is packed with patrons.

BLUE is playing trumpet on a tiny dingy stage at the end of the room with a jazz band following his lead. The song is mellow, but BLUE'S trumpet solo is played with virtuoso skill.

The bar is loud, with music and chatter. People are enjoying themselves.

CUT TO:

 **EXT. BULLFINCH STREET**

The Branstock Tavern is noisy even from the street. The sounds leach out into the street, louder when people open the door to enter.

A few Fable citizens are wandering around the street, but it's mostly empty.

 **EXT. GLASS SLIPPER SHOE STORE**

(THE MUSIC FROM THE BRANSTOCK TAVERN HAS BECOME NON-DIEGETIC

SOUND THROUGHOUT THE REST OF THESE SCENES)

The Glass Slipper shoe store is nestled among the shops of

Fabletown. Not a huge place.

CINDY leaves the shop for the night, locking the doors, throwing a casual wave back inside.

SHOT FROM OUTSIDE THE WINDOW.

Inside the dimly lit shop, CRISPIN – a middle aged man - is at a computer, doing accounting or inventory. He offers a half-hearted wave back.

CINDY turns, heading for the Woodlands Apartment Building.

CRISPIN glowers once her back is turned.

CUT TO:

 **EXT. BEAUTY AND BEAST'S APARTMENT BUILDING**

A worn tenement building a block from Bullfinch street.

 **INT. LIVING ROOM**

BEAUTY - dressed in a T-shirt and PJ's - is on the couch of their studio apartment, anxiously leafing through bills, balancing financial accounts. Trying to find extra room in their budget.

CUT TO:

 **INT. BATH**

CLOSE UP OF BEAST'S HAND. IT'S VERY NEARLY HUMAN NOW.

BACK TO MEDIUM SHOT, A MIRROR REFLECTION.

BEAST - also undressed for bed - is studying himself in the mirror, touching his face. He looks noticeably more human.

His eyes are still beastly, but the horns have almost receded, and his teeth are a little smaller. The hair growth has gone down some.

CUT TO:

 **INT. LIVING ROOM**

BEAST wanders out of the bathroom and sees BEAUTY, stressed on the couch.

They meet eyes. BEAST smiles at her quietly. BEAUTY studies his face and quietly returns the smile. BEAST steps to her and takes bills from her hands, dropping them onto the coffee table.

BEAST gets on the couch beside her and silently encourages her to come lay back against him. BEAUTY, exhausted and worried, snuggles up against him. He strokes her hair gently. They stare out at their apartment, neither looking particularly happy, despite BEAST'S appearance improving.

It's not a permanent fix.

CUT TO:

 **EXT. CLEARING IN THE WOODS - AFTERNOON**

THE MUSIC FROM THE BRANSTOCK TAVERN FADES OUT INTO THE SOUNDS OF THE WILDERNESS)

THE FOLLOWING SCENES ARE HYPER-REAL.

Wearing a blue medieval peasant dress, SNOW WHITE - a little younger, a little happier - is rummaging through a bush, picking berries, emptying them into her hand. She tastes one and enjoys it.

Her younger sister, ROSE RED - pretty, fiery red hair - is a few steps away, kneeling in the grass as she plucks flowers. The girl is playful, energetic. She gathers a handful of the flowers and carries them to SNOW. She offers SNOW a small pink rose from the bundle.

SNOW takes the rose and admires it. Looking up to smile at her sister, she finds that ROSE'S attention has been drawn to the sky behind SNOW. She follows her sister's gaze upward.

CLOSE UPS:

SNOW'S HANDS FALLING TO HER SIDES, STILL CLUTCHING THE ROSE.

SHE DROPS THE BERRIES TO THE GROUND.

ROSE STARES AT THE SKY, CONCERNED AND FRIGHTENED.

SNOW'S HAND HOLDING THE ROSE BY THE STEM SQUEEZES INTO A FIST AND DRAWS BLOOD FROM THE ROSE'S THORNS.

SNOW STARES AT THE SKY. HER EYES NARROW DEFIANTLY.

SNOW'S HAND, NOW GRIPPING A BASTARD SWORD INSTEAD OF THE ROSE. BLOOD DRIPS DOWN HER HAND IN THE SAME WAY AS THE WOUND FROM THE THORNS.

 **EXT. RANSACKED VILLAGE**

IN THE SAME RELATIVE POSITIONS, THE TWO SISTERS ARE NOW STANDING IN THE MIDDLE OF A BURNING VILLAGE. PEOPLE ARE SHRIEKING AND RUNNING, COLLECTING THEIR BELONGINGS AND LOVED ONES.

The sky is on fire. Creatures in shadow sail through the smoke. On the hill in the distance, a demonic army is charging into the village.

SNOW reaches back for ROSE RED, shoving her away.

SNOW WHITE  
Rose, go!

Her sister obeys and flees down the dirt street.

SNOW turns back to the flames and the army as a creature swoops down from the sky, breathing fire and shrieking. She stumbles and falls back into the dirt. Black smoke envelops her.

Screaming in the distance. The smoke slowly subsides. Snow is in the dirt, shielding her eyes. A man, off screen, offers her a hand.

MEDIUM SHOT LOOKING AT SNOW FROM THE SIDE. SHE NO LONGER HAS THE SWORD. A MAN'S HAND ENTERS THE FRAME.

BIGBY (O.S.)  
My lady?

SNOW takes the hand and she pulls herself up and into the waiting arms of BIGBY. His hair is shaggy, and he's naked but draped in a fine navy blue cloak to cover himself.

BIGBY pulls her bleeding hand to his lips, gingerly kissing the back of her palm. His lips come back with her blood on them. He licks his lips. His eyes flash a golden orange, wolflike.

ROSE (O.S.)  
(screaming)  
SNOW!

SNOW darts around at the sound of her sister's panicked screaming in the distance. She is now alone in the burning village.

She runs through the village, ducking into a tavern. It's

roof is on fire.

CUT TO:

 **INT. TAVERN**

The tavern is half ash. There are no bodies but all the furniture and bottles have been smashed. SNOW runs through to a back door...

CUT TO:

 **INT. PARTY ROSE'S APARTMENT – MODERN DAY**

SNOW stumbles out into a rager of a party. Rose's apartment is dark, loud, packed with people. They're drinking, dancing, making out. SNOW pushes through the debauchery and into the kitchen doorway.

CUT TO:

 **INT. CASTLE HALLWAY**

Through the doorway, SNOW hustles in a brisk walk down a massive corridor. The castle is lush and ornate, but dark.

The sounds of sex between a man and a woman can be heard at the end of the hallway, through a large imposing door.

SNOW gets to the end of the hallway and bursts through the door.

CUT TO:

 **INT. ROSE'S APARTMENT**

She finds herself in the crime scene of ROSE'S apartment.

ROSE RED'S corpse is strung up on the wall, beside the blood message "NO MORE HAPPILY EVER AFTER". Her body is mutilated and mounted to the wall.

SMASH CUT TO:

 **INT. SNOW WHITE'S BEDROOM - NIGHT**

SNOW wakes up from her nightmare in a panic.

SMASH CUT TO:

 **INT. BIGBY'S BEDROOM**

CLOSE UP OF BIGBY'S EYES SHOOTING OPEN.

CUT TO:

 **INT. SNOW WHITE'S BEDROOM**

Struggling to calm down, SNOW hugs a pillow beside her, rolling over and staring out to the wall.

CUT TO:

 **INT. BIGBY'S BEDROOM**

Less startled than she is, BIGBY futzes with his hair and sits up in bed.

He eyes a rotary phone on the nightstand. Reaching out, he instead grabs a pack of cigarettes and a lighter beside it.

He lights the cigarette in his teeth. Inhaling deep, he wafts the smoking end of it in the air around his nose.

Through the smoke, BIGBY sees a large fat pig - COLIN - standing on all fours in the doorway to his bedroom.

BIGBY  
What happened to the truck, Colin.

COLIN  
(slouching against the door)  
Relax. I'm taking some 'me time'.  
Just a couple more days and I'll be  
outta your hair.

BIGBY  
You're not dodging the Farm again.

COLIN watches BIGBY scratch absentmindedly at his hand as he breathes in his cigarette smoke.

COLIN  
(smug)  
That girl just will **_not_** let you get  
a good night sleep.

BIGBY  
(puffing away)  
Fuck off.

COLIN  
(wandering away)  
'Night, Bigby.

BIGBY  
(calling out to COLIN)  
You're on that truck in the morning.

BIGBY throws his head back onto his pillow with a grunt. He glares up at the ceiling, continuing to smoke.

CUT TO A SHOT ABOVE BIGBY'S BED. BIGBY is ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE MATTRESS.

FADE TO:

 **INT. SNOW WHITE'S BEDROOM**

THE BED IN THE SAME SPOT, SNOW IS LAYING WHERE THE RIGHT  
PILLOW IN BIGBY'S BED WAS SITUATED, STARING OUT AT WINDOW TO THE RIGHT OF HER BED. FOR A MOMENT IT SEEMS THAT THEY ARE LAYING NEXT TO EACHOTHER.

Fades to focus only on SNOW, alone.

FADE TO BLACK

FADE IN:

 **EXT. MOLLY'S APARTMENT - THE NEXT MORNING**

Early morning, but the streets are busy with commuters.

 **INT. MOLLY'S APARTMENT**

Cocooned in sheets, MOLLY wakes up sated and happy. She finds the other side of her cramped bed empty. There is a note on the pillow, with her name written on it in embellished calligraphy. She smiles and chews her lip as she reads it.

CHARMING (V.O.)  
Sweet Molly: My heart bursts with a  
fire I had nearly forgotten and a  
deepest desire for a repeat performance  
of the night we shared together. I  
can scarce contain my yearning for  
you. But alas, I must temper myself  
and patiently wait for your exquisite  
touch this evening.

 **INT. MOLLY'S APARTMENT - EARLIER THAT MORNING**

Molly, unconscious in bed. Charming is at her bathroom mirror, checking his teeth as he puts on an undershirt.

CHARMING (V.O.)  
You were a dear picking up the bill  
for me like that yesterday. I am  
absolutely mortified and eternally  
grateful for your thoughtfulness.

 **INT. SNOW WHITE'S APARTMENT - THAT MORNING**

SNOW sits at her vanity, assessing her face in the mirror. She's exhausted.

CHARMING (V.O.)  
While you slept I dashed out to  
retrieve my luggage from the Port  
Authority baggage check. After  
that I will be visiting with some  
old friends in town.

 **INT. MOLLY'S APARTMENT - THAT MORNING**

CLOSE UPS OF CHARMING OPENING HIS SUITCASE, CHARMING'S SUIT  
AS HE BUTTONS UP HIS VEST, TIES HIS SHOES, SLIPS ON HIS  
TAILORED SUIT THREADS A WAVE THROUGH HIS HAIR WITH A FINGER.  
CHARMING admires himself in the mirror.

CHARMING (V.O.)  
I dropped off a couple of suits  
with the dry cleaners downstairs.  
Be a dear and pick them up for me  
this afternoon before you go to  
work. Also, if you have a moment,  
can you do a load of laundry for  
me? Just the few items in my suitcase.  
Make sure to carefully follow the  
washing instructions on the labels.

 **INT. SNOW WHITE'S APARTMENT - THAT MORNING**

SNOW, in her business suit, puts on earrings and a necklace, watching herself in the mirror.

CHARMING (V.O.)  
I helped myself to your spare  
apartment key and some money from  
your purse. I didn't want to wake  
you to ask, and knew you wouldn't mind.

 **INT. MOLLY'S APARTMENT - THAT MORNING**

CHARMING kisses Molly on the forehead.

CHARMING (V.O.)  
I'll be camping here with you for  
a few days, if it doesn't put you  
out too much.

 **INT. HALLWAY  
** He gingerly closes the door behind him, locking it.

CHARMING (V.O.)  
See you tonight! Your handsome  
prince du jour.

Another WOMAN, middle aged but pretty, is leaving her apartment around the same time as CHARMING. He meets her eyes and smiles seductively as he passes her. The WOMAN gets flustered and amorous at his attention.

CUT TO:

 **EXT. WOODLAND APARTMENT BUILDING**

The early morning is pleasant outside.

 **INT. BIGBY'S APARTMENT – KITCHEN**

BIGBY is at the stove, wearing boxers, frying up eggs, bacon, and sausage links for breakfast.

COLIN the pig wanders into the kitchen, dazed.

COLIN  
What is that ungodly smell?

BIGBY  
Hospitality.  
(lifts up a sausage link with tongs)  
You up for breakfast?

COLIN  
(disgusted)  
You are a goddamn monster, you  
know that?

BIGBY smirks as COLIN marches out of the room in a huff. He flips bacon.

BIGBY  
(calling out to Colin)  
The truck upstate leaves in an  
hour. You better be on it.

CUT TO:

 **INT. ROSE RED'S APARTMENT BUILDING HALLWAY**

PINOCCHIO - a young man with the height of a child, grumpy, and exhausted from the early morning - wanders down the hall with a coffee and a paper bag of donuts.

He checks the back of his hand, where he scribbled an address and apartment number in sharpie.

Reaching the right apartment number, PINOCCHIO pounds on the door.

BOY BLUE opens the door open, anxious.

PINOCCHIO  
(groggy)  
Why am I up at the ass-crack of  
the morning in Greenwich?

BLUE scans either end of the hall for anyone looking and hurries PINOCCHIO inside.

BLUE  
Get inside, quick.

PINOCCHIO comes in and finds the apartment with sparse furniture, photographs tapes up all over the walls.

The walls are splattered in blood every few feet.

FLYCATCHER, in his janitor's uniform, has a leg propped up on an upended sofa. He cheerfully whistles to himself as he squirts a thin stream of blood onto the wall with a medical blood bag. Wearing latex gloves, he uses his fingers to paint letters on the wall in the blood. He's already spelled out "NO MORE  
HAPPEN".

BLUE  
Flycatcher, it's "happily". "No  
More _Happily_ Ever After".

FLYCATCHER stares at the letters for a moment, absorbing his mistake and trying to figure out how to fix it. He wipes at the "E" to turn it into an "I".

FLYCATCHER turns to PINOCCHIO, who is frozen at the doorway, speechless. There's a moment of awkward silence.

FLYCATCHER  
(pleasantly)  
Good morning, Pinocchio.

PINOCCHIO  
What the shit is this?!

BLUE locks the apartment door behind PINOCCHIO, shushing him.

BLUE  
(harsh whisper)  
Quiet!  
(takes the paper bag from him)  
Sheriff Bigby has us recreating  
the crime scene upstairs in ROSE  
Red's apartment.

FLYCATCHER  
(returns to splattering paint)  
For research. 

BLUE  
We only have the day and we need  
your help.  
(studies inside of the paper bag)  
No maple-glazed?

PINOCCHIO shakes his head absently at the question, his eyes glued to the half-assed recreation of Rose's living room. Bookshelves in the approximately correct place, the couch turned over in the same way. Boxes representing end tables.

FLYCATCHER  
(glancing at bag with excitement)  
Doughnuts? Thank you!  
(glancing at BLUE)  
Are there any powdered?

BLUE  
(lifts out a powdered doughnut and points it at FLYCATCHER)  
Finish that message first, then wash your hands a few times.

PINOCCHIO  
What the hell kinda research?

BLUE takes a seat at a fold-out table and pulls out an alternative doughnut to eat. He nods at a bunch of photos strewn across the table.

FLYCATCHER continues splattering blood.

BLUE  
Copy the furniture layout of Rose  
Red's place and then try to recreate  
the spatter patterns from these  
photos. Bigby wants to see how much  
blood it takes.

FLYCATCHER  
 _Making_ the mess is a nice change  
of pace.

There's a cooler beside the table. PINOCCHIO gently kicks at it.

PINOCCHIO  
Who's blood is that?

FLYCATCHER  
Didn't ask.

BLUE  
(placating)  
Sheriff got the bags from Dr.  
Swineheart.

PINOCCHIO  
This is too fuckin' weird, man.

BLUE  
Miss White had a morning appointment,  
but I have to get to work in an hour.  
Just enough time for me to get you up  
to speed on the process.

PINOCCHIO  
You owe me.

BLUE  
(narrowing his eyes)  
Two weeks we've been covering  
your chores at home.

PINOCCHIO  
The job market's tricky when  
you're under four feet.

BLUE glances back at the shelf FLYCATCHER is throwing blood onto, and then studies a photo on the table.

BLUE  
(to FLYCATCHER)  
You need to get more on the lower  
shelves.

CUT TO:

 **INT. GLASS SLIPPER SHOE STORE**

THE STORE IS SMALL, CRAMMED TO THE CEILING WITH SHOE BOXES AND MISC SHOE REPAIR EQUIPMENT. THE ROOM IS MOSTLY EMPTY, SAVE FOR ONE CUSTOMER, STICKING HER NOSE IN THE BOXES, CRISPIN, THE FAMED COBBLER FROM "THE ELVES AND THE SHOEMAKER" TALE, AND BIGBY.  
BIGBY is on a landline phone on the register counter while CRISPIN frustratingly stacking inventory behind the register.

BIGBY  
(angry but hushed)  
I asked you and Flycatcher to do  
this for me. I did NOT ask you to  
bring in the all your roommates.

 **INT. CLEAN APARTMENT – KITCHEN**

BLUE is on the phone, watching FLYCATCHER and PINOCCHIO in the living room, judging the blood splatter job against photos.

BLUE  
We needed another pair of hands,  
Sheriff. Pinocchio's good for it.  
I promise. He won't say anything.

 **INT. GLASS SLIPPER SHOE STORE**

BIGBY growls under his breath. Eyeing CRISPIN to make sure he's not listening. CRISPIN seems absorbed in his work, and doesn't show any interest in the phone conversation.

BIGBY  
If I get the slightest whiff of  
anyone talking about you three,  
I'm holding him responsible.  
You tell him that.

 **INT. CLEAN APARTMENT – KITCHEN**

BLUE  
Of course. Goodbye, Sheriff.

BLUE hangs up the phone and heads back into the living room. Putting on his coat, he doles out orders to both FLYCATCHER and PINOCCHIO.

BLUE (CONT'D)  
Rose's apartment is just upstairs.  
If you absolutely have to, you can  
go up to check out the scene. Don't  
trample all over the evidence. Don't  
let a mundy see anything. And don't  
forget to lock up after.  
(goes for the door)  
I'll be back after work.

PINOCCHIO  
(under his breath as he splashes  
more blood on the wall)  
This is so fucked.

BLUE  
Have fun, boys.

CUT TO:

 **INT. GLASS SLIPPER SHOE STORE**

BIGBY idly studies the shoe box stacks, leaning back against the register counter. CRISPIN is standing behind the register, venting at the back of BIGBY'S head.

CRISPIN  
(in the middle of a rant)  
She goes around dumping cash on  
designer shoes from goodness knows  
what ass-end of the black market,  
when we can barely keep the doors  
open. Some folks say she's got some  
rich geezers on the line for it,  
wrings them dry for all their worth  
and drops them for the next cash  
cow she finds. But I'm afraid it's  
something illegal. We can't afford  
the mundys looking in on our  
business trying to crack some  
smuggling ring or whatever it  
is she's doing.

BIGBY  
(bored)  
Uh huh.

CRISPIN  
Are you going to file my complaint?

CINDY wanders in, very large iced coffee in one hand, another large designer shopping bag in the other.

BIGBY  
I'll look into it.

CINDY  
(checking her phone)  
Dammit, I'm sorry, Crispin. Lost  
the time.

She brandishes the shopping bag. CRISPIN eyes BIGBY pointedly, as if to say "see what I mean?". BIGBY waves him off.

BIGBY  
(to CINDY)  
Long lunch break?

CINDY slows down her rushing when she notices BIGBY, and welcomes him with a coy smile.

CINDY  
(playful)  
Exceedingly.

BIGBY  
(thin smile)  
How you doin', Cindy?

CINDY  
Been better. Bit of a morning.

CINDY glances down at Bigby's shows as she heads towards the back room.

CINDY  
(glancing at his shoes)  
Please tell you haven't worn out  
those wingtips already. It's only  
been twenty years, Big. When I said  
they were one-of-a-kind, I meant it.

BIGBY  
Not here about the shoes, Cindy.

CINDY  
Wish you'd let me dress you, too.  
There comes a time when vintage  
becomes antique.

BIGBY  
I wanna ask you about Rose Red.  
CINDY goes a little serious.

CINDY  
Geez, yeah. I just heard. Come  
on back.

CRISPIN pulls one of the large shopping bags from behind the counter and starts rifling through it. CINDY snatches it from him before he can see anything.

CINDY  
(quickly)  
I got it.

Leaving CRISPIN fuming by himself. BIGBY follows CINDY through a curtain into the back.

CUT TO:

 **INT. GLASS SLIPPER BACK OFFICE**

The back room is stuff with even more shoe boxes. CINDY inches her way back into a clear space with a table, and drops off the bags. BIGBY eyes them suspiciously.

BIGBY  
Why don't you sell the kinds of  
shoes you like to wear?

CINDY  
Don't look at me like that. Most of  
it's inventory. Custom orders.  
(sheepish smirk)  
And...I have particular tastes.

BIGBY  
Taste you can afford?

CINDY  
You sound like Crispin.

BIGBY  
You've got your ear to the pipe most  
days. When did you last see Rose?  
CINDY pulls a few shoe boxes out of  
the shopping bags, finds spots up on  
high shelves to stash them.

CINDY  
We don't run in the same circles.  
Rose tends to crash with her mundy  
friends, doesn't really hang around  
Fabletown much anymore.

BIGBY  
Anything would help.

CINDY  
(trying to think)  
God, the last time I saw her was...  
around the last big break up with  
Jack. About a year ago.

BIGBY  
What happened?

CINDY  
Huge blow up in the middle of  
Bullfinch. Then a few months later  
she shows up at the Remembrance  
Day ball on Bluebeard's arm instead  
of Jack's. They were macking on  
each other all night.

BIGBY  
Yeah, I heard about that.

CINDY  
You actually gonna go this year?

BIGBY  
I was there last year.

CINDY  
Are you gonna do something other  
than sit in a corner?

BIGBY  
(shrug)  
I don't have a tux.

CINDY  
I could hook you up. There's an  
elf on my floor, does a little  
tailoring on the side.

BIGBY  
We'll see. You were saying? ROSE  
and Bluebeard?

CINDY  
Is it true, what they're saying  
about her apartment?

BIGBY  
Not supposed to discuss an open  
investigation.

CINDY  
(flicker of a smirk)  
But you're going to anyway.

BIGBY  
(relenting)  
What are they saying?

CINDY  
(sober)  
"No more happily ever after".  
Written out in her blood. Folks  
are freaking out, dropping the  
A-word.

BIGBY  
It's a little early to jump to  
the Adversary.

CINDY  
It's gotta be a prank, right? A  
fucked up prank, but still.  
(soft, direct)  
You'd tell me? If you thought it  
was Him.

BIGBY  
He's pretty low on my list of suspects.

CINDY  
(relaxing with a breath)  
Maybe she told a mundy what she was  
and they freaked out.

BIGBY  
The crime scene was too theatrical.  
This was violent, personal. More  
likely this was from inside the  
community.

CINDY  
A Fable did this?

BIGBY  
The writing on the wall was _supposed  
_ to cause a panic. Maybe trick us  
into thinking that the Adversary  
called a hit.  
CINDY  
I don't know, Bigby. I'm not sure  
a Fable would do that to someone.

BIGBY  
What about Bluebeard?

CINDY  
What about him?

BIGBY  
Word is you've gone out to dinner  
with him a couple times recently.  
You seeing him now?

CINDY  
I don't make it a habit. Guy's not  
exactly known for his dating skills.

BIGBY stares at the wall behind CINDY, where a copy of the  
Fabletown Accords is framed.

BIGBY  
(smirking)  
"Fable shall not judge another  
Fable for alleged actions before  
the Amnesty."

CINDY glances back at the frame and huffs.

CINDY  
I wouldn't call a house full of  
mounted wives' heads 'alleged behavior'.

BIGBY  
Why'd you go out with him, then?

CINDY  
I'm not gonna move in with him or  
anything. But if a handsome, CHARMING  
rich guy wants to buy me dinner,  
 _somewhere public_ , I'm allowed to  
take him up on it. It's been...amicable.

CINDY pours more sugar into her extra-large cup of iced coffee.  
BIGBY  
You think Rose had the same  
arrangement in mind?

CINDY  
I think Rose was just looking to  
piss off Jack.

BIGBY  
When did Rose break it off with  
Bluebeard?

CINDY  
Not sure. Their relationship was a  
little...vague. Didn't see them  
together after the ball. Maybe it  
was a one-time thing.

BIGBY  
When did she and Jack get back  
together?

CINDY  
Who knows. They break up every other  
decade. She always takes him back.  
(she watches him think)  
You think maybe Jack had enough?  
Took it out on Rose?

BIGBY doesn't answer that.

CINDY (CONT'D)  
(surprised)  
And here I thought _I_ gave _you_ the  
best gossip.

BIGBY  
Thanks for the chat, Cindy.  
(he taps the shopping bags with a  
quiet smile)  
Keep your nose clean.

CINDY smiles back at him, sipping her iced coffee.

CINDY  
Yessir.

When BIGBY leaves, CINDY'S expression darkens.

CUT TO:

 **EXT. WOODLANDS GARDEN**

The late morning is quiet, peaceful. Birdies tweeting, cars driving past Bullfinch Street in the distance but never turning onto the street.

THE CAMERA PANS DOWN THE FOUNTAIN SCULPTURE AT THE CENTER OF THE GARDEN COURTYARD. AT THE FOUNTAIN'S CENTER IS A STONE STATUE DEPICTING A NUMBER OF FICTIONAL/MYTHICAL CHARACTERS: ZEUS HOLDS A LIGHTNING BOLT IN THE AIR. HUMPTY DUMPTY BALANCES ON A BRICK WALL WITH A BIG GRIN ON HIS FACE. ALICE (IN WONDERLAND) SITS UPON A MUSHROOM, PETTING HER CAT DINAH. LADY GODIVA IS PROPPED ON A HORSE, HER HAIR FLOWING DOWN TO COVER THE PERTINENT AREAS OF HER NAKED BODY. ETC.

BIGBY is sitting on a bench, jotting down notes on a small pad of paper. A list of names, with notes beside them.

SNOW wanders over to him from one of the garden walkways.

SNOW WHITE  
How's the investigation going?

BIGBY  
Still compiling my list of suspects.

SNOW WHITE  
You don't think Jack's guilty?

BIGBY  
Jack's been a perpetual pain in my  
ass since day one of The Exile.  
He's a weasel, but he's never struck  
me as a cold blooded killer.  
(sigh)  
I've been wrong before, though.  
SNOW sits beside him on the bench.

SNOW WHITE  
What are you going to do, then?

BIGBY  
Go suspect trolling. I've got a  
couple folks on my list still.

SNOW WHITE  
I want to go with you.

BIGBY  
(sighing)  
You can't _._

SNOW WHITE  
I've helped you on cases before.

BIGBY  
It would be a conflict of  
interest, Snow.

SNOW WHITE  
What's that supposed to mean?  
She's my sister.

BIGBY avoids her eyes. There's a tense silence.

SNOW WHITE (CONT'D)  
(genuinely hurt)  
I'm a suspect?

BIGBY  
You have motive.

SNOW WHITE  
(exasperated scoff)  
From a _lifetime_ ago.

BIGBY  
Still relevant.

SNOW WHITE  
You might as well put me on the list  
if Charming ever shows up dead.

BIGBY  
(nodding)  
You and the rest of the ex-wives.

SNOW WHITE  
(quiet, strained)  
I would never hurt her.

BIGBY  
I wouldn't be doing my job if I  
didn't consider everyone. You need  
an alibi.

SNOW WHITE  
For when?

BIGBY  
Two nights ago. Around midnight,  
probably.

SNOW WHITE  
(scoffing)  
Poetic.  
(after a moment)  
I was in my office till around 2.

BIGBY  
Can anyone verify that?

SNOW WHITE  
Bufkin.

BIGBY  
(scoffs)  
Anyone else?

SNOW WHITE  
Boy Blue stays longer than I do  
most nights. And I saw AmbROSE  
mopping up on my way up to my  
apartment. We spoke for a minute  
or so.

BIGBY nods, pulling out a small notebook and jotting down.

BIGBY  
That it?

SNOW WHITE  
I got take-out that night. Trusty  
John brought it up to me from the  
front desk. That was around 9, I think.

BIGBY  
Okay.

SNOW WHITE  
Is that enough?

BIGBY  
For now. We'll talk more later.  
I'm sorry about all this. I'm just-

SNOW WHITE stands up from the bench, straightening out her  
skirt.

SNOW WHITE  
Just doing your job. I know.

BIGBY  
I'll let you know when there's  
something solid.

SNOW WHITE  
If we're done here, I have to go  
buy my ex-husband breakfast.

BIGBY  
Watch your wallet.

BIGBY stays on the bench, dropping his notebook into his pocket as he watches SNOW WHITE leave the garden.

CUT TO:

 **EXT. "I AM THE EGGMAN" RESTAURANT  
** The diner on Bullfinch Street is busy with breakfast traffic.

 **INT. "I AM THE EGGMAN" RESTAURANT**

SNOW is sitting at a booth, texting on her phone. CHARMING saunters up to the booth.

CHARMING  
Good morning, Miss White. You look  
impeccable.

SNOW WHITE  
You're late.

CHARMING  
(ignoring the comment, he sits  
with a smile)  
Thank you for coming on such short  
notice.

SNOW WHITE  
Wouldn't have missed it for the  
world. I'm dying to know who you're  
sponging off these days.

CHARMING  
It's comforting to know you haven't  
lost any of your venom over the  
years, lovey.

CUT TO:

 **INT. "I AM THE EGGMAN" RESTAURANT**

CLOSE UP OF THE TABLE AS A WAITRESS PUTS DOWN WAY TOO MUCH FOR TWO PEOPLE.

SNOW is eating eggs and toast as she watches plate after plate added to CHARMING'S side of the table.

CHARMING  
(smiling at the waitress)  
And a little more coffee please if  
you don't mind. Thank you.

SNOW WHITE  
Can we move this along? Unlike  
you, I have responsibilities.

CHARMING  
(happily digging into his meal)  
Yes, I'd heard that you were running  
the entire show over here now.  
That's what I want to talk to you  
about.

SNOW WHITE  
Let me guess. You want me to use my  
office to get you out of trouble. Or  
manipulate someone with money.

CHARMING  
No need. I've thought of a way to  
replenish my lost fortune, without  
cheating anyone.

SNOW WHITE  
(glancing down at her phone,  
uninterested)  
Do tell.

CHARMING  
I've decided to auction off my royal  
title, along with my lands, estates;  
the entire principality. All I need  
from you is to spread the word  
around the Fable community. Focus  
your energies on the rich ones,  
of course.

SNOW WHITE  
(scornfully)  
You've gone dotty, sweetheart. Why  
would anyone pay good money to buy  
lands under the Adversary's dominion?  
Your royal title has no authority here.

CHARMING  
That's the beauty of it. Remembrance  
Day is in less than two weeks. This  
is the one time of year when _everyone  
_ starts getting nostalgic for the  
Homelands. If we act fast, someone  
will buy all of it on nothing but  
hope and the off-chance we actually  
manage to win them back someday.

SNOW WHITE  
Why would I help you?

CHARMING  
Nostalgia? For the good old times?

SNOW WHITE  
We had no good old times.

CHARMING  
(seductively)  
I don't think you're remembering  
them clearly enough.

SNOW WHITE  
(nursing an old wound)  
 _You slept with my sister_.

CHARMING  
The minx seduced me.

SNOW WHITE  
So thoroughly not the point.

The waitress brings their check, setting it on the table.  
CHARMING pats his coat for show. He throws a sheepish smile at SNOW WHITE.

CHARMING  
Would you mind? It seems I've  
forgotten my wallet.

SNOW stares at the bill and then picks it up with a glare.

SNOW WHITE  
Crawl back into the bed of  
whatever poor unsuspecting mundy  
girl you're shacking up with and  
leave me alone.

SNOW pulls a wad of cash from her purse and starts counting bills.

SNOW WHITE (CONT'D)  
By the way, Rose has gone missing.  
Under some frightening circumstances  
from what we can tell.

CHARMING  
I'm sorry to hear that.  
(just checking)  
That is, you're upset about this,  
correct?

SNOW WHITE  
(spiteful)  
It's just occurred to me that you  
belong on the list of suspects.  
She drops cash down on the table and begins to scoot out of the booth.

SNOW WHITE (CONT'D)  
I assume you'll be staying in town  
till your big payout?

CHARMING  
That's my intention.

SNOW WHITE  
Good. The Sheriff will be in touch.

SNOW leaves CHARMING at the table.  
After a moment's flash of concern and frustration, CHARMING consoles himself by continuing to eat his meal.

CUT TO:

 **INT. WOODLANDS APARTMENTS – BASEMENT**

Inside a dingy cell, JACK is sitting on a plain cot bed, staring bleary-eyed at Bigby.

BIGBY  
Sleep well?

BIGBY is sitting on the edge of a table. He drops a bag of fast-food next to him. JACK stares at it.

BIGBY  
Brought you some breakfast.  
Hungry?

JACK  
(deadpanned, bitter)  
I've been locked in here since  
yesterday.

BIGBY  
Let's make this quick then.

JACK  
Bigby, I _want_ to help find out  
what happened to Rosey. I'm not  
the one who hurt her.

BIGBY  
Then who did?

JACK  
Bluebeard, maybe.

BIGBY  
Because Rose started seeing you  
again?

JACK  
Maybe he fell off the wagon. You  
know what he used to do to his  
wives, right?

BIGBY  
Those were pre-amnesty days, Jack.  
You can't bring that up.  
(starts lighting a cigarette)  
You keep an apartment here in the  
building, right?

JACK  
Yeah.

BIGBY  
But you had your own key to  
Rose's place.

JACK  
I stay over with her most nights.

BIGBY  
Why not last night?

JACK  
I don't know. I was out late wit  
some friends and I guess I didn't  
want to wake her so I crashed at  
my place.

BIGBY  
Funny, but Grimble doesn't remember  
you coming in.

JACK  
He was asleep behind the security  
desk, like always.

JACK gets up to head for the breakfast bag.

BIGBY  
(growling)  
Sit.

JACK  
(inching back onto the bed)  
I'm innocent.

BIGBY  
You may not have done anything this  
time, but you were never innocent.  
(slides the fast food aside to  
bring attention to it)  
You're always trying to beat the  
system, Jack. That time you tried  
to steal Seven-League Boots to win  
the New York marathon?

JACK  
(staring at the food)  
 _Boston_ Marathon. I'm not an idiot.  
I kept it out of state, away from  
Fabletown.

BIGBY  
What about the time you tried to  
raffle off the map to your last  
magic beans?

JACK  
I have a right to make money off  
my own property.

BIGBY  
Except the map was a fake and you  
lost the beans centuries ago, if  
you ever had them at all.

JACK  
None of this proves I'd hurt Rose.  
I'm not violent.

BIGBY  
Not lately, but you did go through  
that remarkably bloody giant-killing  
phase way back when.

JACK  
(seething)  
What happened to pre-amnesty? Or  
does that protection only apply to  
granny-guzzling wolves when they  
wear human-suits and pretend to be  
low-rent cops?

BIGBY stands from the table with another growl, low and from his chest. It sounds bigger than the last one. His eyes flicker gold as he steps closer. He suddenly feels a little bigger.

BIGBY  
Watch your mouth, boy.

JACK stumbles back onto the bed, freaked out. BIGBY casts a tall shadow.

JACK  
Easy, man!

BIGBY'S eyes return to human, but he's still an intimidating presence, stepping closer.

BIGBY  
Is Rose dead? Did you kill her?

JACK  
No! Of course not!

BIGBY  
Did you put her body somewhere?

JACK  
(getting angrier)  
What? No!

BIGBY  
So you don't mind if I take a look  
inside your apartment?

JACK  
Damn straight, I mind.

BIGBY  
Tough shit, you live in the building.  
I don't need your permission.

JACK  
Well I got nothing to hide.

BIGBY  
Good to hear.

BIGBY tosses the fast food bag at him. He heads for the big metal door.

BIGBY (CONT'D)  
Cool your heels for a while. We'll  
pick this up later. I expect a sunny  
disposition when I get back.  
BIGBY slams the door shut and turns an archaic iron door lock.

CUT TO:

 **INT. WOODLANDS APARTMENT BUILDING – LOBBY**

TRUSTY JOHN holds the door open as SNOW wanders into the lobby in a malaise.

SNOW WHITE  
(melancholy)  
Thank you, John.

TRUSTY JOHN  
Lovely mornin', isn't it, Miss White?

SNOW WHITE  
(distracted)  
Yes. Lovely.

CUT TO:

 **INT. SNOW WHITE'S OFFICE**

SNOW WHITE studies papers on her desk, her hands resting on the desktop. Closing her eyes, she takes a long, shaky breath.  
The distant door to her office bursts open as CINDY and BRIAR ROSE jointly barge in. BLUE is on their heels, struggling to stop them. He's still tying his bowtie on, having changed from his work that morning.

BLUE  
Ladies, Miss White's only just arrived. You need an appointment!

BRIAR ROSE  
Out of our way, Blue!

CINDY  
(calling out to SNOW WHITE)  
Why the hell is he back in town?!

BLUE reaches SNOW'S desk.

BLUE  
(out of breath)  
Lady Briar Rose and Miss  
Cinderella to see you, ma'am.  
(under his breath)  
I'm sorry I'm late. Sheriff Bigby  
had me and Flycatcher-

SNOW WHITE  
It's fine, Blue.

BLUE  
Do you need anything?

SNOW WHITE  
(tired smile)  
A coffee?

BLUE nods and shuffles to his desk in the far back distance.  
There's a coffee maker on it.

BRIAR ROSE  
Why didn't you tell us Charming  
was back on the prowl?

SNOW slowly and calmly walks around her desk to take a seat.

SNOW WHITE  
I'm sorry, I didn't realize I was  
in charge of the ex-wives newsletter.

CINDY and BRIAR ROSE reach the desk. SNOW WHITE takes a  
calming breath.

SNOW WHITE (CONT'D)  
It's in hand, girls. Charming and I met for breakfast and I'm working to get rid of him as quickly as possible.

CINDY  
(amused)  
You mean he _asked_ you for breakfast.

SNOW WHITE  
I would have expected a little  
more gratitude. Since he reached  
out to me first, I can chase him  
off before he gloms on to you two.

BRIAR and CINDY both scoff.

CINDY  
(in a pitying tone)  
Oh, sweetie...

SMASH CUT TO:

 **INT. BRIAR ROSE'S PENTHOUSE**

The front door of BRIAR ROSE'S penthouse opens, revealing PRINCE CHARMING grinning in the hallway.

CHARMING  
(with a gleaming smile)  
Hello, darling.

BRIAR ROSE smiles disdainfully at him, and shuts the door in his face. CHARMING'S confident smile flickers as the door slams closed.

SMASH CUT TO:

 **INT. APARTMENT HALLWAY  
** Shot down a dingy, empty hallway. The door to CINDY's apartment is ajar.

CHARMING (O.S.)  
Hello, sweetheart.

CHARMING is shoved out of the doorway and into the hall.

CINDY (O.S)  
(firmly)  
Out.

CHARMING straightens himself out just as his luggage bag is thrown out the doorway and into his face.

SMASH CUT TO:

 **INT. SNOW WHITE'S OFFICE  
** SNOW rubs at her eyes wearily.

SNOW WHITE  
(quiet)  
I can't deal with this right now.

BLUE brings SNOW her coffee.

SNOW WHITE (CONT'D)  
Thank you, Blue.

She slowly takes a long drink of her coffee, leaving the two women standing there in awkward silence.

BRIAR ROSE  
Are you alright?

CINDY  
Is this about Rose?

SNOW and BRIAR both eyes CINDY. BLUE sneaks back towards his desk.

BRIAR ROSE  
What about Rose?

CINDY  
She's gone missing.

BRIAR ROSE  
What?

SNOW WHITE  
(suspicious)  
Where did you hear that?

CINDY  
(shrugging)  
Around.

SNOW WHITE  
From who?

CINDY  
Everybody's talking about it.  
Nobody in this town can keep a  
secret but their own.

BRIAR ROSE  
Is that why Bigby arrested Jack?

SNOW WHITE  
The sheriff's barely started his  
investigation. As of right now, we  
are not prepared to release a  
comment to the public.

CINDY  
That's not a 'no'.

BIGBY enters the office carrying a desktop computer and a monitor, cables and plugs draped in his arms.

SNOW WHITE  
We have a lot of business to deal  
with right now, if you don't mind.  
 _Please_ do not spread any rumors  
about Rose's disappearance or  
Jack's detention.  
(shuffling papers)  
The last thing we need is an  
unfounded panic.

CINDY and BRIAR ROSE get the hint and head for the door.

BRIAR ROSE  
I hope that you find her safe.

CINDY  
Me too.

SNOW WHITE  
Thank you.

BRIAR ROSE  
(passing BIGBY with a nod)  
Sheriff.

BIGBY nods back. CINDY passes him with a concerned smile.  
She pats him on the arm, glancing between him and SNOW.  
She's caught the somber tone in the room, and is worried.

CINDY  
See ya, Big.

BRIAR ROSE and CINDY leave the office.

SNOW WHITE  
Where did you get all that?

BIGBY  
(straining with the PC)  
From Jack's apartment. I just  
finished tossing it. It was full  
of setups like this.

BOY BLUE shuffles over to him to take some of the computer pieces from him.

BLUE  
Here, let me help you, Sheriff.

BIGBY  
Thanks, Blue.  
(to SNOW)  
I was hoping you could snoop through  
this one and maybe figure out what  
Jack's been doing with them.

SNOW WHITE  
Why don't you do it?

BIGBY  
Because the damned things hate me.  
I can't operate anything more  
complex than my toaster.

BIGBY drops the computer onto SNOW WHITE'S desk. BOY BLUE gently puts his pieces down. BUFKIN flies over and he and BLUE starts fiddling with wires.

SNOW WHITE  
And what are you going to be doing  
while I'm doing your job for you?

BIGBY  
This and that. I still have a few  
nagging details to figure out about  
the case.

SNOW WHITE  
(confused)  
Implying that you've already solved  
most of it?

BIGBY  
I figured out the bulk of it within  
the first hour. I pretty much know  
what happened, and most of how, but  
I'm still short on some of the who  
and why.

SNOW WHITE  
Are you planning to clue me in?

BIGBY  
(quietly)  
When you're off my list.

SNOW WHITE  
(frustrated)  
Does everyone think that I want to  
kill my sister?

BIGBY starts lighting a cigarette, avoiding answering that.

SNOW WHITE (CONT'D)  
At least tell me if she's dead or  
alive.

BIGBY  
We'll see.

SNOW WHITE  
(glaring at the smoke he's  
producing)  
You can be one frustrating son of a  
bitch.

BIGBY  
True, but she was never less than  
loving and nurturing. The best  
mother a wolf could want.

SNOW watches BUFKIN untangling wires on the desk.

BIGBY (CONT'D)  
When are you planning to see Prince  
Charming again?

SNOW WHITE  
Never would be nice. Why?

BIGBY  
Because I want you to help him sell  
his title. I've got a few  
suggestions.

SNOW WHITE  
Why would you care about that? What  
are you up to?

BIGBY  
A convoluted scheme to make  
everything come out right in the  
end, maybe avoid more bloodshed,  
and keep the Fable community from  
disintegrating in the process.  
(puffs with a shrug)  
Probably won't work, though.

CUT TO BLACK

 **END OF ACT TWO**


	3. NOTE: Exciting News!

Hello to everyone who has so kindly read and commented on my script adaptation for Fables as a TV show. This script adaptation will no longer be updated, but I have some VERY exciting news!

I have loved this idea for a long time, and am proud to announce that it is actually being reborn in a different (and just as awesome) medium! Radio! If you would still like to follow my vision for Fables as a series, please consider giving the first episode of my podcast a listen.

 **"Fables Radio" will be a 5 part radio drama based on my script, and the first volume of the Fables comic, titled "Legends in Exile". We have an incredible cast of voice actors, wonderful music, and even some sound effects.**

I am so in love with this project, and I'm so excited to finally be able to share it with you.

All chapters of "Fables Radio" will be available to stream at **soundcloud[period]com/fablesradio**. If you like what you hear, please consider subscribing and commenting! We'd love to hear from you!

* * *

You can also follow us at:

 **fablesradio[period]wordpress[dotcom]**

 **fablesradio[period]tumblr[dotcom]**

 **facebook[dotcom]/Fables-Radio-1590502247936958**

* * *

Enjoy! And thanks again for reading!

 **Darling Gypsum**


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